Day 29- Mental Health Conference

On Monday, a mental health conference was held to discuss existing programs and promote new ones. Mike, the military liaison for EPMHMR, and I represented EPMHMR at a booth. Since we were there to promote a new program called “Veterans Rally Point” that provided services for veterans and family members of veterans, we covered our table with camouflage material (or the material that the military wears. I thought it was a pretty cool idea). Anyhow, I felt important representing one of the best mental health agencies in El Paso with a veteran who had been in combat for 20 years. Once the conference began, I decided to leave the booth and attend the speakers and guests in the big room. Different speakers, doctors, and individuals from the military spoke about what has been done, what needs to be done, and realizing what the actual problem at hand is. What hit home for me most was when a solider spoke about how the veterans feel when they come back from war. They feel unappreciated and can not seem to integrate with society as they once were able to for various reasons. This may be a minor concern for other cities, but not for El Paso considering it has the second largest military post in the United States. In addition, 10,000 more troops will be returning from war by the end of October. The veteran population in El Paso is a serious issue, one that needs to be dealt with properly, especially for those individuals returning with PTSD and other psychiatric disorders. As mentioned before, Mike also spoke about the new program EPMHMR is launching, “Veterans Rally Point.” As someone sitting in the audience, I knew exactly what he was talking about because I’ve met with him previously regarding these programs and the training that needed to be implemented. I just really felt like I was a part of this process, of this new establishment and it was something to be proud of.